Pattern means for circular knitting machines and method for operating same

ABSTRACT

A knitting machine with needle cylinders and an apparatus on every knitting system for the selection of the knitting needles for the purpose of producing a design wherein said apparatus consists of a plurality of design devices with markings that are mounted on a rotatable shaft whereby said design devices are inserted alternately during the continual knitting operation for needle selection.

United States Patent Schmidt Aug. 12, 1975 [54] TE E N R CIRCULAR 2,208,698 7/1940 Lawson et a]. 66/50 B KNITTING MACHINES AND METHOD FOR {f gs g rewer 8 a OPERATING SAME 2,928,266 3/1960 Overton 66/50 B [75] Inventor: Gerhard Schmidt, Stuttgart, 0 10/1961 0 B Germany 3,066,508 12/1962 Mazzi..... 66/50 B 3,283,540 11 1966 Levin 66/50 A [7 3] Ass1gnee: Firma Franz Mor GmbH, 3,403,535 10/1968 Mishcon 66/50 A Stuttgart-Vaihingen, Germany F 22 7 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS [22] 19 3 1,138,255 12/1968 United Kingdom 66 50 R 2 APPL 390,342 627,961 11/1961 Italy ..l 66/50 B 94,884 11/1897 Germany Related Appllcatlon Data 21,523 1912 United Kingdom 66/50 A Continuation of Ser. No. 162,819, July 15, 1971,

abandoned. 1

Foreign Application Priority Data Jan. 21, 1971 Germany 2102719 Apr, 15, 1971 Germany 7114392 US. Cl. 66/50 B; 66/156 Int. Cl D04b 15/74 Field of Search 66/50 A, B, 50 R, 36 A,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,872,596 8/1932 Lawson et a1. 66/50 B Primary ExaminerJames Kee Chi [5 7 ABSTRACT A knitting machine with needle cylinders and an apparatus on every knitting system for the selection of the knitting needles for the purpose of producing a design wherein said apparatus consists of a plurality of design devices with markings that are mounted on a rotatable shaft whereby said design devices areinserted alternately during the continual knitting operation for needle selection.

10 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures PATENTED AUG 1 2 I975 SHEET PAIENTE mi 21975 SHEET PATENTED AUG] 21915 FIG. 5

1 PATTERN MEANS FOR CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINES AND METHOD FOR OPERATING SAME This is a continuation of application Ser. No. 162,819, filed July 15, 1971, now abandoned,

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Knitting machines, especially circular knitting ma chines, with design wheels provided on each knitting system are known in many forms. The design wheels act directly upon the needle or stamper feet. For this purpose they are as a rule positioned obliquely and are provided with notches in which design wheel notched bars or lifter plates are arranged which place the needles in the latch clearing position according to the design.

In all prior art design wheels or other mechanical design devices there is a disadvantage which is represented by the fact that a so-called design pitch must be provided in order to obtain reasonable designs after every design repetition. This follows from the fact that the design wheels roll off the cylinder circumference in such a manner that upon every revolution of the needle cylinder, for example, on the first design row, the fourth, seventh, tenth, etc., and then only the first design row will adjoin. The size of the design pitch depends on the system and color number, whereas the design width and the design height furthermore depend on the number of existing design wheel notched bars and the number of needles in the knitting machine. When pitchless designs are to be produced, then the number of needles must be divisible by the number of design wheel notched bars or lifter plates, whereby there is obtained the additional disadvantage that the height of the design is limited by the number of knitting systems divided by the number of colors.

OBJECT AND DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The object of this invention to eliminate the prior art disadvantages in a knitting machine with a device on each knitting system for the selection of the knitting needles so as to produce a design. This problem is solved according to this invention by having every device consist of a plurality of design devices which during continuing knitting operations can be used alternately for needle selection.

Every design device, for example, can consist of a design wheel or a design drum. The plurality of design devices can thus be mounted on a common shaft in such a manner that the rotation of the shaft will enable one to select a certain design device for needle selection.

The design devices, especially design wheels, can act directly upon the knitting needles or their stampers or push rods. Preferably, however, they act upon swingable spring rods which, for example, are disclosed in German Pat. No. 1,585,211 and which are attached to the needle cylinder or to the stampers.

The design wheels are preferably arranged above each other on a common shaft and are made in the form of design disks in whose circumference markings such as notches or bars are provided according to the design and which directly act upon the abovementioned spring rods.

This invention provides the advantage that the design possibilities are considerably increased and that espe cially pitchless design with reasonable design heights can be produced if the number of design wheel notched bars, notches, bars, or other markings can be divided into the needle number.

When using design disks in combination with spring rods, the design disks are preferably attached above each other on a shaft parallel to the axis of the needle cylinder and this shaft is made to rotate by means of a drive wheel which is likewise attached to it and which engages the spring rods. Here, the arrangement is so made that, in each case, only one selected design disk can cooperate with the spring rods for the purpose of making the design. If another design disk is to be used for making the design, then the shaft is raised or lowered by means of a special selection mechanism. The selection mechanism can, for example, have a pin attached to the needle cylinder and upon every revolution this mechanism adjusts a step pulley upon which the shaft, which carries the design disks, is supported upon spring tension. If the design disks are to be changed several times within one revolution of the needle cylinder, then a corresponding multitude of such pins can be provided.

To facilitate the transition from one design device to another one, exchange points are preferably provided and in their areas the design devices cannot influence the knitting needles so that only RR or RL goods can be produced at these points. In a circular knitting machine with spring rods for needle selection, the exchange points for example are characterized by the fact that 10 or 20 neighboring spring rods are so shortened that they will cooperate only with the drive wheel but not with the design disks.

The invention will be better understood by reference to the drawing wherein:

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a longitudinal cross section view through the needle cylinder and its lower part as well as through the lock casing and the latters pertinent parts in accordance with this invention;

FIG. 2 is a front view of the lock parts and the design wheels in accordance with this invention;

FIG. 3 is a top view on a step pulley;

FIG. 4 is a longitudinal cross section view through the left half of the design wheels and their drive wheel;

FIG. 5 is a top view of the design wheels, the drive wheel, and a lock curve as shown in FIGS. 1-3.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS In the rotatable needle cylinder 1 there are push rods or stampers 2 and needles 3 in vertical guides 4.

The stampers 2 may be swung around their lower end 2a, which is why the lowest points of the stamper guide 4a are closer to the axis of the needle cylinder than the lowest places of needle guide 4b.

Attached to stamper 2 is a spring 5 whose free end rests in an arc-shaped manner on the bottom of the stamper guide 4a. Every stamper 2 has a foot 2b and every needle 3 has a foot 3a.

Needle cylinder 1 is firmly screwed together with the lower part Ia and is driven by a motor (not shown).

In the circumference of part la there is attached single or several cams or pins 6. Arrow 7 (FIG. 3) shows the direction of rotation of the lower part la and of the needle cylinder 1. The pin 6 protrudes out of the circumference of part la and engages in the tooth gaps of a rotatable step pulley 8 which can be rotated around a screw 12 and which fits on a fixed pad 9 which is in firm connection by means ofa bar 9a with the lock casing through a screw 11.

Step pulley 8 has on its circular surface which protrudes beyond screw 12, 2 times three or more steps which are designated with I, II, and III (FIGS. 2 and 3). During every revolution of the needle cylinder, it is switched to the next step, if only one cam or pin 6 is provided.

Into the fixed pad 9 there is screwed a setscrew 49, behind which lies a compression spring 50 which presses against a wall 51. On the lower surface of the step pulley 8 are recesses 8b into which balls 51 snap are provided behind every tooth gap 8a. In this way one can make sure that the step pulley 8 will not move by itself.

Above the ring-shaped surface, which is provided with steps, there is provided a shaft 14 positioned rotatably and axially movable in a bearing 13 and which, without leeway, rests against a coaxial rotatable and axially movable shaft 15. Shaft 15 on its other end contains a bolt 17 which is cushioned by a spiral spring 26, which elastically rests on the undersurface 16a of a lock casing opening 16 and which presses the shaft 14 upon the step pulley 8.

According to the example shown, there are three design disks 18, 19, and 20 on shaft 15 and the intervals of these disks correspond to the height difference of steps I to II or to III.

A disk 21 and intermediate disks 22 and 23 are furthermore attached to shaft 15. The upper end of shaft 15 is provided with external thread upon which is screwed a ring 24 provided with internal thread. Betweeen ring 24 and disk 21 there are arranged three design disks and between them there are arranged the intermediate disks. The assembly thus constituted is held together by a pin or bolt 25 which also makes it easier to line up the design disks accurately. The design disks have a diameter of, for example, mm.

On shaft 15 there is a toothed drive wheel 27 which engages on the foot 28a of the spring rods 28 and which, when the needle cylinder rotates, is rotated at the correct cycle. The drive wheel is pressed against a ring 32 by means of a threaded ring 48 and is secured against being twisted with relation to this ring 32 by means of a pin 47. The shaft 15, which sticks through a center borehole in ring 32, is so keyed with ring 32 that, when the drive wheel 27 is standing still it can be moved up and down without rotational movement produced by drive wheel 27 being interrupted. This arrangement however could also be such that the shaft 15 will be raised or lowered together with drive wheel 27.

Ring 32 can be rotated in a ring 30 which is attached by means of screws 31 to a ring 29 which is attached to the lock casing 10. The ring 29 carries the bearing 13 for shaft 14. When needle cylinder 1 is rotated, the drive wheel 27, the shaft 15, and the design disks 18, I9, and 20 attached to shaft 15 are therefore rotated likewise.

On the spring rods 28 are preferably loops 28b which extend radially outward and which have such a height that they will cooperate only, in each case, with one of the design disks l8, 19, or 20 which for this purpose is provided along its circumference in accordance with the design with gaps 33 or bars 36. The bars 36 cause the spring rods 28 to be deflected out, whereas the gaps 33, on the other hand, do not cause the spring rods 28 to be deflected. For reliable deflection, bars 36 can be provided with notches 36a.

To facilitate the transition from one design disk to another one, an exchange point is provided here which, in the direction of circumference of the needle cylinder, has a width of several spring rods 28 and which is characterized by spring rods 28 which are cut off below the loops 28b. In the area of the exchange point, therefore, not only the teeth of drive wheel 27 but not the bars 36 of the design disks 18, 19, or 20 can cooperate with the spring rods 28 so that either all needles are selected or all needles are not selected. Pin 6, which controls the step pulley 8 and thus the transition to another design disk, is arranged in the direction of rotation at the beginning of the exchange point. When necessary, there may be provided several exchange points and a corresponding number of pins 6.

When a spring rod 28 falls into a gap 33 of a design disk, then the stamper or needle feet 2b or 3a run through the knitting traces 38 or 39 because they are raised to curves 43 or 44 (FIG. 2). If on the other hand a bar 36 comes to rest against the loop 28b of a spring rod 28, then the spring rod 28 is swung outward over the point 37b of a curve 37, so that it will continue to run on the oblique edge 37a of the curve 37 so that it will swing the stamper 2 assigned to it radially inward in the known manner. As a result stamper foot 2b glides along the inside curve 43 without being raised so that the associated needle foot 2a also runs only through the non-knitting trace 35 in the area of this knitting system. The details of this type of control are known from German Pat. No. 1,585,211, where the design disks l8, 19, or 20 are replaced with control magnet systems.

A set of design disks with, for example, bars 36 is associated with every knitting system, whereby the bars 36 can be broken out in any desired sequence. When there is only one pin 6 or only one exchange point, every design disk rolls off several times one after the other during one complete cylinder revolution, and is exchanged for another design disk after one revolution. In this way, one can make manifold designs which are pitchless if the number of existing bars 36 or gaps 33 can be divided into the number of needles. In contrast to the use of just one design wheel at every knitting place, it is also possible to increase the height of the design, as desired, without any pitch, or increasing the number of design disks per system.

The inventor is not confined to the example described here. In particular, the exchange between the design disks can be accomplished by means of electrical switches or other mechanical devices in any desired sequence, whereby, in place of the step pulley 8, for example, there can be used electromagnetic adjusting devices or lifting magnets. In place of design disks l8, l9, and 20 there may be provided the known design wheels which are brought into the position suitable for design making by means of swaying, pushing or sliding devices. One can also think here in terms of using design drums or other design devices.

It is also possible to provide in the sliding carriage of slat-knitting machines several design wheels or design disks which are inserted for design-making purposes alternatingly or in any desired sequence.

According to one preferred further embodiment of this invention, the design wheels or design disks l8, l9, and 20 essentially consists of plastic material. As plastics it is meant here especially wear-and-tear resistant plastics which also can stand up under organic compounds, such as oil. It is especially suitable to use, for example, industrial thermoplastic materials or hard extruded or injection casted polyamides. The use of an acetal resin has proved to be particularly advantageous; it is sold by the Du Pont Company under the brand name Delrin."

To facilitate the production of a certain design, it is preferable to provide the design disks 18, 19, and with bars 36 which can be broken out, whereby narrow slits 52 are provided between bars 36 (FIG. 5) with a width of, for example, a few tenths of a millimeter. To make it easier to break bars 36 out, the break-off places 54 can furthermore be somewhat torn up. Other design wheels or design disks can also consist of metal-andplastic combinations.

The invention may be variously otherwise embodied within the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A knitting machine comprising a circular needle cylinder having a plurality of guides, knitting elements arranged within said guides, spring means for selecting desired knitting elements for knitting a pattern, control means facing said needle cylinder and provided with guide traces for causing selected knitting elements to knit when said needle cylinder and said control means are moved relative to each other, at least one pattern device acting on said spring means for selecting the desired knitting element, said pattern device being mov' able relative to said needle cylinder and including at least two rotatable pattern elements provided on their circumferences with means for acting on said spring means, means for positioning said pattern elements in a working position for acting on said spring means or in a non-working position, means for positioning only one of said pattern elements in the working position, automatic means for moving another pattern element into the working position after a previously selected number of spring means have passed said pattern device while moving relative to said needle cylinder, whereby each of said pattern elements are selectively brought into the working position in such a sequence that all pattern elements jointly participate in the production of one pattern.

2. A knitting machine as claimed in claim 1 in which a plurality of adjacent spring means form an exchange area in which the exchange of one pattern element into the working position for another pattern element occurs.

3. A knitting machine as claimed in claim 2 wherein said pattern elements comprise circular discs disposed coaxially on a common shaft parallel to the axis of said needle cylinder and are provided with gaps and bars about the circumferences thereof.

4. A knitting machine as claimed in claim 3 wherein said automatic means moves said common shaft while within said exchange area.

5. A knitting machine as claimed in claim 2 wherein said spring means comprise spring rods which are deflected by said pattern elements according to a pattern, said spring rods being provided with loops, said loops being acuated by the pattern element in the working position and being unaffected by the pattern elements located in the non-working positions.

6. A knitting machine as claimed in claim 3 and further comprising means rotating at the speed of the knitting machine for activating said automatic means.

7. A knitting machine as claimed in claim 3 and further comprising a drive gear mounted on said common shaft and engaging said spring means.

8. A knitting machine as claimed in claim 5 wherein the exchange area includes a group of adjacent spring rods not having loops and arranged at the beginning of the exchange area in the direction of rotation.

9. A knitting machine as claimed in claim 3 wherein the number of knitting elements is die isible without remainder by the number of gaps and bars of each pattern element.

10. A method for the continuous knitting of tubular fabrics with a pattern on a circular knitting machine which is caused to knit or not to knit by the desired selection of knitting elements during relative rotation of a needle cylinder and a control means in which a plurality of pattern elements are provided which include a plurality of means for selectively actuating the knitting elements passing by, only one pattern element being placed at a time in a working position for actuating the knitting elements and in which the pattern element in the working position is exchanged in a predetermined sequence for another pattern element after each revolution of the needle cylinder, so that the plurality of pattern elements participate in the production of a pattern one after another in predetermined se- 

1. A knitting machine comprising a circular needle cylinder having a plurality of guides, knitting elements arranged within said guides, spring means for selecting desired knitting elements for knitting a pattern, control means facing said needle cylinder and provided with guide traces for causing selected knitting elements to knit when said needle cylinder and said control means are moved relative to each other, at least one pattern device acting on said spring means for selecting the desired knitting element, said pattern device being movable relative to said needle cylinder and including at least two rotatable pattern elements provided on their circumferences with means for acting on said spring means, means for positioning said pattern elements in a working position for acting on said spring means or in a non-working position, means for positioning only one of said pattern elements in the working position, automatic means for moving another pattern element into the working position after a previously selected number of spring means have passed said pattern device while moving relative to said needle cylinder, whereby each of said pattern elements are selectively brought into the working position in such a sequence that all pattern elements jointly participate in the production of one pattern.
 2. A knitting machine as claimed in claim 1 in which a plurality of adjacent spring means form an exchange area in which the exchange of one pattern element into the working position for another pattern element occurs.
 3. A knitting machine as claimed in claim 2 wherein said pattern elements comprise circular discs disposed coaxially on a common shaft parallel to the axis of said needle cylinder and are provided with gaps and bars about the circumferences thereof.
 4. A knitting machine as claimed in claim 3 wherein said automatic means moves said common shaft while within said exchange area.
 5. A knitting machine as claimed in claim 2 wherein said spring means comprise spring rods which are deflected by said pattern elements according to a pattern, said spring rods being provided with loops, said loops being acuated by the pattern element in the working position and being unaffected by the pattern elements located in the non-working positions.
 6. A knitting machine as claimed in claim 3 and further comprising means rotating at the speed of the knitting machine for activating said automatic means.
 7. A knitting machine as claimed in claim 3 and further comprising a drive gear mounted on said common shaft and engaging said spring means.
 8. A knitting machine as claimed in claim 5 wherein the exchange area includes a group of adjacent spring rods not having loops and arranged at the beginning of the exchange area in the direction of rotation.
 9. A knitting machine as claimed in claim 3 wherein the number of knitting elements is divisible without remainder by the number of gaps and bars of each pattern element.
 10. A method for the continuous knitting of tubular fabrics with a pattern on a circular knitting machine which is caused to knit or not to knit by the desired selection of knitting elements during relative rotation of a needle cylinder and a control means in which a plurality of pattern elements are provided which include a plurality of means for selectively actuating the knitting elements passing by, only one pattern element being placed at a time in a working position for actuating the knitting elements and in which the pattern element in the working position is exchanged in a predetermined sequence for another pattern element after each revolution of the needle cylinder, so that the plurality of pattern elements participate in the production of a pattern one after another in predetermined sequence. 